Trail of the Yellow Suns
by duffman669
Summary: Gale and her canine friend join with three other outcasts to uncover a force that threatens the very exsistence of the galaxy. They must overcome their lack of brains, heart or courage to save everyone. The story of the Wizard of Oz, done Animorphs style.
1. Chapter 1

SPOILERS

Gale is a part of a special squad of army trained morphers whose mission is to search the galaxy for their missing Commander and his team, the Animorphs. When she loses her team, she and her new canine friend must seize control and continue the mission. As they join with three other outcasts from throughout the galaxy, they begin to uncover a threat that is much larger than the Animorphs ever dealt with. They must learn to overcome their own lack of brains or heart or courage in order to protect the very existence of the universe. A story based on the classic Wizard of Oz, done Animorphs style.

I do not own the rights to any Animorphs related characters or places. This is my first animorphs fanfic, it will have all origional characters, but maybe a few surprises. Its wizard of oz, but it wont be exactly like the story, it will just bear some resemblenses to it, so even if you hated Oz, you still might love this. Its kind of like that Sci-fi mini series Tin Man, which I definately have to recommend because it was pretty awesome. So give it a read, and please give it a review even to tell me how awful it is.

Chapter 1

My name is Gale.

I'm not usually supposed to tell people much about myself, for all intensive purposes I don't even exist. But I will tell you somethings, I mean things have changed a bit, and people definitely know I exist now. I'm an about average height, twenty-seven year old with short messy hair. A lot of people say I look young for my age, which I hate. I'm trying to get people to take me serious and they see this stupid little girl. But I don't let it bother me too much, I don't look like a little girl all the time. Gale isn't my real name, it's the code name I chose when I became part of the special ops team that made all others look like stupid school boys running around with slingshots. Our team has a major, major advantage over others, our group has the ability to morph, to become animals. Its crazy that just a few years ago I could have said that and everyone would have just laughed in my face, I would have brought _myself_ to the loony bin. But I guess after the Animorph's war ended people were forced to accept a lot of things that they never would have even imagined.

I'd been expecting for a long time for us to finally find out that aliens were out there somewhere, and maybe we'd get to reach them someday. I didn't expect to one day learn that they are not only out there, but they are right here, on earth, and they have been living among us for years. We learned about the cultural revolution and the industrial revolution, this was a revolution like no one could possibly imagine. The surge of technology and information was incredible, the government worked to slow it down of course but the world was affectively shoved ahead a hundred years in a day.

I tried to stay focused throughout all of this, I was only a year out of military school when everything came out into the open. It was strange looking at Commander Berenson's face on the news, so terribly serious, with a flash of some horrible memory across his face after every question was asked. It was strange because despite how much the war had changed him, how much it had seemed to completely tear his life apart, I still wanted to be just like him. I'm almost ten years older than him, and I still look up to him like he's some great old man. I guess its just the way he carries himself that makes him look like he's about fifty.

Commander Berenson is the leader of the special ops team I had been recruited for. At least, he used to be. When I had only been on the team for about six months, he disappeared along with two of my senior teammates and the original Animorphs. For the next year, Tonlin trained the team, and nothing was said of the mysterious disappearance of our leader. Nothing was said officially anyway, but we did talk about it a lot among ourselves. We all assumed that they had left on some top secret mission and hadn't come back yet. I had not been on any of these supposed top secret missions until Tonlin came in one day with some shocking news. We were right, the Animorphs were off on some operation, even though we were never told what exactly. But, as some of us had feared, they had no been in communication with anyone for some time.

A few months from learning this terrible news, I set foot on the first alien planet I had ever been to. I tried to master my excitement and remember that I was on a very serious mission. But that only made me more excited. I mean come on, I'm on my first official mission! On an alien planet! This was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I looked around, taking in the surroundings of this new environment. The ground was moist and springy, it seemed to be made out of odd bushes, as though we were standing on the top of a canopy of very thick trees. There were tiny cracks between the purple/green leaves, some too small to see through, others with large bluish branches sticking out, and others open enough to glance through at nothing but black emptiness. If we were standing on a thick canopy, then we were a very, very long way up. The sky was a bit darker than ours, that same kind of purple tint to it, like someone had messed with the controls on the TV. Aside from they occasional stray branch sticking up, there didnt appear to be any other life, plant or animal. We weren't able to see all that far however, because the bushed or trees or whatever it was below us varied in height, causing slight slopes and hills in areas.

"Okay team," Tonlin said, in an even more serious voice than he had adopted on the voyage. He was obviously just as excited and awed as I was. "We split up here, three groups. Striker and Ghost; air, Gale, Frost, Royal; right here, Deacon and Rock, we're gonna check out down below. Everyone head to the settlement, but stay clear of it until everyone arrives you got me."

I was glad he didn't choose me to go down there with him. That dark did not look very inviting. And I was glad I'd be going with Royal, I was comfortable with him, I could trust him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My name is Royal.

I liked my name, its been my nickname since before I can remember. No, its not actually my real name, but once I became part of the elite special ops team led by Jake Berenson, Royal is the only name that exists. I'm pretty shut off from most people outside the team, I don't really have a family. I have a mother, but she lives pretty far away, I don't see her much. I had a dad, actually I _have _a dad, I think. He disappeared after the war ended, I'm not really sure if he's alive or not. When I joined the military, he seemed normal enough, he and my mom sent letters saying how much they missed me and all that. Then the letters started changing, only a bit, my dads started to become full of stuff about a new program he was involved in, The Sharing. My moms letters began talking about how much more distant he had become.

I later learned that The Sharing was a front for a race of brain-controlling slugs who were secretly taking over earth. By the time I had learned this, my father was gone, no one knows where or how. I know its possible that he died during the war, but I know that there are still controllers out there somewhere, and he could be one of them. When everyone finally learned that there were aliens out there, and that some of them were trying to destroy us, I started to think that the idea of fighting other countries was just destructive when there are enemies with a whole unified planet. For awhile I didn't know what I should be fighting for, but now I do.

All this was going through my head as I focused my mind on the DNA trapped inside me. You see, the team that I had become part of was unlike any other on earth, because at that very moment, we were all becoming animals. I was becoming on of my favorite morphs, a wolf. My face bulged outward as shaggy grey fur spread across my uniform. When the Animorphs had fought in the war, they could only wear skintight bike shorts or leotards, luckily, some more practical uniforms had been designed for us. They were still skintight, but padded for warmth and protection, and thankfully, with skintight shoes. We had also been equipped with communicators attached to our legs, which could stretch to fit the leg of any big or small animals we may become. Of course, there just isn't anything you can fit on the leg of a flea, and I was really glad we weren't morphing fleas.

I looked around, Striker was almost completely golden eagle, while Ghost had chosen the peregrine falcon morph. Deacon, Rock, and Commander Tonlin were all becoming spider monkeys. Gale and Frost were also almost completely wolves. Once completely morphed, I felt the mind of the wolf slide in next to mine. The senses were incredible. Smells painted a trail across the trees, down into the trees, everywhere. They weren't smells that the wolf brain recognized, but it would certainly be able to smell or hear any of those unknown things coming way before they got to us. And that is something you want on a planet where you have no idea what anything is, so far away from home that you would need a telescope just to see your familiar old sun.

((We're not in Kansas anymore, huh, Toto)) Gale said, noticing me staring around at this strange new world.

((Heh, heh, don't worry munchkin, Toto will protect you from the Lions, and Tigers, and Bears.)) I said.

((Oh really,)) she said, ((we'll see about that next time I'm a bear.))

With that she took off running, with me close behind her and Frost following calmly. Racing up and over the larger mounds, and darting around the stray branches we made our way across the landscape. We quickly got ahead of the birds in the sky and the monkeys swinging below us.

((Reaching destination,)) Frost said, ((Slow it down, we have to wait until we regroup.))

((Tonlin said we couldn't be seen until everyone go here,)) I said, ((that doesn't mean we cant go take a look.))

((Yea, we'll just have to do it real-)) Gale stopped mid-sentence. I had smelled it too. The city was still about three thousand yards away, but suddenly, we were surrounded.

We should have had some warning, wolves can smell things up to a mile away, but suddenly the smells of creatures were surrounding us from below, moving closer.

((In the trees!)) I yelled, ((we've got to get out of here.))

((What is it?)) Tonlin asked, he must have been too far away for conventional thought speak, but I was able to hear the communicator on my ankle.

((Unknowns, in the trees, hundreds!)) I shouted in reply. That's when the world around me exploded.

Hundreds of creatures swarmed through the gaps in the canopy, rising into the air all around us. My first thought was bees, the moved like them, in a sort of organized mass. But, apart from the wings, they looked almost nothing like bees. They were probably less than half my height, with four arms and two legs, almost like a four armed monkey. It was clear they were born to travel through the thick trees below us.

((RUN!)) Gale cried as the swarm converged on us.

((Tonlin, we have to get out of here, there are too many of them,)) I shouted. The claws of the creatures were stabbing the air all around me as we turned to run.

((We're almost there,)) I heard Tonlin say, in normal thought speak, ((I still cant see-Oh my god.))

((What the hell are these things!)) Deacon yelled.

((We have to help them!)) Gale cried.

((How? These morphs are useless down there!)) I shouted, snapping my jaws at an approaching creature. ((Wait, Striker, Ghost, if you can hear me you have to stay away!))

((They aren't responding.)) Frost said, shaking off three creatures who were attacking his back.

((Up ahead!)) Gail said. I looked forward and saw a pile of feathers lying on top of the canopy.

The wolf already knew. It could smell the two mangled birds lying motionless. It could hear that there were no heartbeats coming from them. But the human in me had to cling to some hope. ((Striker, Ghost!)) I yelled, stopping in front of them and staring down at the small lifeless bodies.

Suddenly, the trees around me began to crack and fall away, the entire area around our two fallen teammates began to crumble. Frost and I began to fall. CRACK. BAM. CRACK. I hit branch after branch, each one barely slowing me down as I plummeted down to my death. Hit from every side, not sure if they were branches or creatures or my own body anymore, twisting and turning, ever falling. Falling. THUD.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

GALE

((Royal!)) I cried, staring down into the dark depth below me, ((Royal! Frost!))

The winged creatures were still surrounding me, clawing at me, ripping out fur and slashing red gashes across my torso. I stood there, staring into the emptiness, waiting for someone to fix everything. Waiting for someone to take action or tell me what to do.

((Tonlin!)) I pleaded, ((Anyone! Can anyone hear me?))

No reply. Alone, alone on a strange planet full of vicious creatures. _You have to do something,_ I thought,_ But what? What can I do? _

The ship. I turned a ran, back the way we had came. Carefully avoiding the place where my friends had fallen, maybe to their death. I was beginning to slow down, lose focus. While small, the creatures were beginning to harm me, to cause enough damage to make me fall. I had to get back to my team. If they were alive then they were being torn apart by these things. I had to know for sure what had happened. But how. The wolf body was useless down there, and I couldn't dimorph around these things.

Finally, I reached _The Alliance_, a moderate sized craft by Andalite standards. It was one of the only of its kind, a blend of the technology of the advanced andalites, and the innovation of humans. It was similar in shape to the fighter jets that hade seemed to cutting edge only a few years ago, except much larger. Twin shredder cannons were equipped on each wing, and a heat seeking nova blast system was retracted from the hull. Although it would fit few andalites, our crew was able to fit comfortably.

I reached the ship and stepped onto the entrance platform, ((Shield on,)) I shouted in command. The mass of nightmarish bats on my heals were shut out as the shield surrounded the vessel.

Two of the creatures managed to make it through. I swung a paw at one, sending it spinning through the air. It hit the landing gear and fell to the ground, unconscious, probably. It hit the other full force, gnashing at it with my teeth, tearing one of its wings off and leaving it bleeding on the ground. I didn't have time to process all the terrible things were happening, even the things that I was doing. Not yet.

((Hatch close.)) I shouted at the computer, already demorphing, ((Start engines.))

By the time we were in the air I was almost completely human, but I was not ready to leave, and I was not finished morphing. New fur spread across my body now, thick black fur. The arms flying the ship began to ripple with additional muscle, six, seven, eight times stronger than before. By the time I landed I had become a full grown silver backed gorilla.

I stared back down into the vast hole left by my fallen friends, stilled scared, but ready. And then I leaped. Down, down through the darkness, I reached for a branch, feeling it slip through my hands as I continued to fall. Finally my hand found a hold an I stopped myself. In the temporary quite I could hear them, skittering noisily through the trees. They had caught up with me, and now I was really in their world. I let go of my branch and allowed myself to fall again, then grabbed another branch, slow down, let go, grab again. One of the creatures came at me, looking more like a monkey now, with its wings tucked close against his back. I used one hand to swat him away while continuing to slow my fall with the other hand. They were nothing to me in this morph. I swatted the oversized bugs away as I fell even further, a few hit me, to no effect.

Finally I reached solid ground, and there I saw them, two wolves, two bloodied messes. I rushed over to one, the creatures were keeping their distance now, lurking about fifteen feet up in the trees. I tried not to think about why they weren't following me down, and why they had left these two bodies untouched. I had plenty to think about.

The wolf I was staring down at was dead, quite clearly broken apart by the terrible fall. He lay at an awkward angle, the spine seemingly cracked in two. Royal. Or Frost. One of them dead, maybe both of them. I rushed over to the second wolf, not both of them, someone must have made it.

He too, was in terrible shape, it looked like at least two of his legs were broken. Nearly all of his fur was matted with dark blood. But, I strained my ears, pressing my head against the wolf body. YES, a heartbeat! ((Royal!)) I cried, ((Frost! Can you hear me! You have to demorph!)) How long had they been in morph? I checked my communicator display, an hour and forty minutes. In twenty minutes they would be trapped in morph, but they were still alive, for now.

Striker and Ghost, Royal or Frost, all dead. Should I find the others? Where would I start? If wolves had, had such a difficult time surviving, how could a monkey. Then, I saw why the creatures above were so hesitant. There were more than one kind of predator in this jungle.

It slithered like a snake through the trees with liquid grace and speed. Twenty feet long, at least. Row after row after row of razor sharp teeth spinning around its wide circular mouth, the vague remains of a monkey tail still being grinded up.

Acting quickly, I grabbed my fallen teammate and leapt back into the trees. The giant snake sped up, chasing me as I rose slowly, unable to climb as fast while holding the wolf. Up and up, fast as my body would carry us, the snake rose its body, slamming its body into the tree and still rising. No, it couldn't climb. We would never reach the surface in time, it was quickly gaining on us. Only feet away, I could feel the blades surrounding my feet.

"WRAAAAAAAAAAAAA," it screeched, as I slowly pulled ahead.

I had made it up about fifteen feet, and the giant snake could not rise any further. But suddenly, I was bombarded by the alien monkeys who had been waiting. They had, had time to group together and came at me full force. With one arm tied up carrying the fallen wolf, I could not defend myself from the attack. Straining every muscle in the apes body I sped up, biting at the creatures still surrounding me. I was beginning to lose focus, the ape mind was wavering from the loss of blood. I focused my human mind and drove the body forward, up and up. No way to fight off the creatures but to double my efforts to rise out of the hell all around me.

Finally, air! Sunlight! Not earths sunlight but blessed sunlight nevertheless, ((Shields up!))

I placed the wolf gently on the floor of the ship, not knowing what to do, where to go. Had twenty minutes passed yet? His eyes flickered open slightly, ((Royal? Frost? You have to demorph! You are out of time!))


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

GALE

((Gale?)) the wolf asked weakly, ((what happened?))

((Royal! Its you! You have to demorph now!)) I cried, already demorphing myself.

((I am.)) Royal said, ((I'm, I'm trying.))

I scanned his mangled wolf body, matted with blood, bones jutting out in awkward places, unchanged. ((Royal, you're, you're not changing.))

((I'm trying, I can't, trying…)) he said, drifting off. Blood was still slowly flowing from his body.

"You have to focus, oh god, please keep trying." What if he couldn't change back. Trapped in morph forever. No, not forever. I looked again at his damaged body, he was slowly dying. If he couldn't morph out of the injuries then he wouldn't last much longer.

I had to do something, but what? I was all alone again. I hadn't been able to save anyone, and I was losing Royal. He needed a hospital. Billions of miles from earth and he needed a hospital.

"Start engines!" I shouted, he didn't necessarily need an earth hospital.

Taking the controls, I lifted up off the canopy of trees, heading for the settlement that had been the team's original target. Surely there had to be someone who could help. The city was unusually small for the energy readings it was putting off. It was completely clear of the large trees around it, there seemed to be a large glass dome that barely extended over the trees. From what I could make out from so far above the dome, there seemed to be small buildings huddled all around a clearing. Just as I was trying to figure out where to enter the city, a force seized the Alliance, pulling it down toward the clear dome.

I tightened my grip on the controls, struggling to veer away from the imminent collision. I pulled back and tried to slow the ship down, but it only pitched back as I started to lose control. I had been doing okay so far, but I haven't had much experience flying, and I had never been in this kind of situation. MORPH! I thought to myself, the only way to survive the impact. I was nearing the top of the dome, almost completely out of control of the pitching and spinning ship. I could see the glass surface only feet away from the nose of the ship, and braced for impact. Then, I hit the dome, and kept going, cutting through the glass as if it was the surface of some large lake. I had made it into the dome, but I couldn't straighten the ship, and I was losing altitude fast.

Hopeless thoughts filled my head as I fell to my death once again. Why hadn't I just stayed home? This wasn't my cause, it never was. I just want to go back, forget this ever happened. Forget about all this death and horror. The ship kept spinning and spinning, falling faster all the time. I was still morphing, not longer to work the controls with my huge clumsy paws, but I had long since lost complete control of the ship. I saw flashes of the city below me, nothing distinct, closing in fast. Then, with a surprising CRUNCH, I came to a vicious stop. I was immediately thrown back into the far wall of the deck, cradling Royal in my massive arms. I could feel the ship break apart with the force of the crash, and I could feel my own body nearly broken by the force of being thrown twenty feet into a steel wall. Yet, I was alive, and if I sensed right, so was Royal.

I placed his body gently back onto the deck and lumbered toward the ramp, ((Hatch open.))

To my surprise, I found an extremely different atmosphere than anything I had been expecting. One of the first things I noticed, was that the purplish tint that had colored everything in the forest and the world outside the dome was gone. The world inside was full of bright vibrant colors, although nothing was colored quite the same as earth. The ground was covered in bright orange grass, with neat patches of bushes and vines that were a variety of greens and yellows. Everything seemed to blend into the colors all around it, even the buildings. Small little cottages, clearly built for a single family, littered the square that I had found myself in, there was no real organization to it, as though anyone was welcomed to build their house wherever they felt was an appropriate spot. And the trees, they were a vibrant mixture of every color I could imagine, or perhaps only a few colors, it was difficult to tell. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but they too seemed to be blending into other colors and always changing, but never really changing. The overall view of the square was quite attractive, which said wonders for the people.

The first thing I noticed about the enormous crowd of people surrounding the ship, was that they were applauding. Stupid, giddy, applause. To me. They were short people, only about three or four feet tall. Half of their high was consumed by their overly large heads, which were extremely round and plump. Boyish, yet mousy, with large front teeth sticking out of their extended mouth and nose. Their legs stuck right out from the bottom of the head, two legs similar to a humans, but with two feet on the end of each leg. There were two arms as well. They looked like, well like cartoon arms, thin, with large hands and only four fingers. They were all a slightly yellowish flesh color, with rosy patches on the cheeks and about the face, contributing to the appearance of a large, disfigured baby.

Perhaps it was the sheer contrast of my stark white polar bear morph, it a world full of color, that made me so interesting. Then I realized what had broken The Alliance's fall, we had landed on another ship.

"Great beast!" one of the creatures wheezed in a high happy tone, "we owe you the highest debt of gratitude!"

((For what?)) I asked, unsure of how crashing down upon another ship could be considered a favor.

"The Destroyers!" another chimed in delightedly, "You have destroyed the Destroyers!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

ROYAL

I was running through a thick forest, with a wolf directly behind me. I was fast, but I couldn't lose him, and my legs were burning from the effort. But they weren't regular legs, I realized, they were the legs of a wolf. I looked back to see the wolf behind, but saw only trees. As I turned forward I realized that I was the wolf, I was the one chasing somebody. And the person that I was chasing, was my dad.

"Vile creature," he said, in a dark, sinister voice, turning and pointing a dracon beam at me.

NOOO! I screamed, but I was no longer in the forest. I was lying in a bed, with tubes sticking out of my body, and a large steal brace over my hind legs.

I had been brought to one of the houses of the strange creatures, which I later found out were called Perswon. Although they looked and acted like children, it appeared they had very advanced technology, and set to work fixing my body right away. My new body. There was no denying it now, I was trapped in the body of a wolf, I would be a wolf forever.

I had plenty of time to think about this fact as I lay in a bed, recovering. There were so many things I would never be able to do, human things, normal things. Gale tried to comfort me, for awhile she sat by my bed, but now she had taken to exploring the village more and more. I don't know if it was because she could sense that I needed to be alone, or that she just didn't know what to say to me, I mean, I know I wouldn't know what to say if it had been someone else.

I did see the few small upsides, and tried to cling to them. I was alive, that was the most obvious thing that I could be thankful for. Everybody dead, but Gale and I. Somehow I survived the fall that had killed Frost, survived the monsters that had killed the rest of the team. And as far as morphs go, there were far worse things I could be. I could still fight, once I was healed, and I knew that I would need to fight. Gale and I were in this together. Whether I liked it or not we were all that was left, it was up to us now.

I wish the decision had been left up to us. I'd like to think that given the option of running home and staying to fight, I'd choose to stay. But call it fate or chance or merely terrible luck, that choice had been taken away from us. The Z-Space engines had been damaged in the crash, and we were billions of miles from earth. Without Z-Space travel it would take hundreds of years to return home. We didn't know if we'd ever be able to return home, but we knew that while here, we had a duty. We thought the Perswon may be able to help, but although they were extremely advanced in medicine and biology, they never involved themselves with spaceflight.

They had told us the story of the invaders that had arrived just before us. The strange alien monkeys that had attacked us earlier, which they called Cheedoo's, were used as messengers between villages across the planet. They had been receiving messages from other villages saying that they had been taken over by foreign invaders. Not only did the Perswon not develop spaceflight, but they also did not find a need for weapons. They had not defense against the "destroyers" and were easily defeated. They had just worked their way to this settlement, when we had showed up and crushed them under our ship. It appeared there had been no survivors. We had destroyed an entire ship full of people, or aliens. That was just another thing I had to deal with while I lay, unable to move.

"Hey Roy, how are you feeling?" Gale asked, ducking as she came through the door.

((Good, I'll probably be healed soon,)) I said.

"Good," she said hesitantly, "So I uh, I guess we should start talking about where we're going to go?"

((Yeah,)) I said, ((Have you learned anything from the Perswon that might help?))

Aside from tending to my injuries, I had not spoken to the aliens very much, but I assumed Gale had been learning as much as she could.

"They say that we are the first outsiders they have seen in years," she said, "but they were talking about a planet close to here I thought we could check out."

"Greetings friends," Plinken said, entering the room. He had been the Perswon who had been helping me recover.

((Morning Plinken)) I said, ((about time we start taking this stuff off huh.))

"Yes!" he said delightedly, "almost time, very close!"

((Plinken, when we leave, will your people be okay?)) I asked, ((wont the destroyers return?))

"Yes, they are already on their way," he said, showing little depression, "they will surely retaliate for losing their ship."

"What?" Gale shouted, she had clearly not been told this, "how soon will they get here?"

"Oh very soon."

((Is there anything we can do?)) I asked, I couldn't believe how calm he was being, ((There must be a way to stop them.))

"No they will surely destroy us, they are far more advanced," he said, still as calm as if he was talking about whether it would rain tomorrow, "but the Perswon do not fear death. We have lived our lives with the goal of creating a beautiful world. Do you find our world beautiful Royal?"

((I, well yes its wonderful, but-))

"That is most wonderful!" he exclaimed delightedly, "We have lived with a dream of creating beauty, and we have succeeded. There is nothing anyone can do to take the memories of what we have accomplished. Even destroying this world, which would be most regrettable, would not change the fact that it once existed."

((I still want to stay and help,)) I said, trying and failing to lift myself to my feet.

"Yea, me too, you deserve to keep this world," Gale said, glancing toward me.

"No! Most certainly not!" the Perswon shouted, in the same light tone, but with a firmness to it, "we have lived our dreams, we are prepared. You have not, you have yet to fulfill your lives. You must leave, and live! You still have much to do!"

((But we want-))

"They are coming!" shouted a voice from the square, "They have arrived!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

GALE

"You must leave!" Plinken shouted.

"Royal, he's right," I said, looking at him, "I don't see how we can help."

((We should still try,)) Royal said, I could see he was still trying to move with the brace still on his legs, ((Besides, maybe these things are the ones who did something to Captain Berenson.))

I hadn't thought of that. Did he really think that was true, or did he just want to stay and fight. Maybe he felt he owed them for helping them. I wasn't happy about leaving the people that had helped me either, but I didn't really think staying would help. Or maybe I just didn't want to admit that I was afraid of staying, but I couldn't deny it. I couldn't handle any more death and violence, but I knew that even if I made it off this planet, there would be more violence to come, maybe even more death.

"We might find something out, but they'll never let us go," I said, knowing it was true, but not quite sure whether I was relieved for a logical excuse.

((Yea, I, I know,)) Royal said, ((it just seems…wrong.))

"I'm not happy about it either, but we have a mission," I said, knowing that when the mission came I would have to be braver then I felt now, "I'll get the ship ready."

"I will prepare you for your departure!" Plinken said, beginning to work on the brace around Royal's leg.

I turned and ducked back out of the small doorway, into the bright light of the village square. It really was a beautiful world, I didn't want to see it go. But there was nothing I could do, I was only one person. Once again I felt the desire to have someone else to throw this burden on, someone to tell me what to do, or at least to help me. Then I realized.

"Plinken!" I shouted, rushing back into the house, "the tree creatures, the Cheedoo, how do you send messages with them."

"They are a most wonderful animal," he exclaimed, "we can communicate with them, and they pass messages between each other through their own language."

((Gale)) Royal asked, ((what are you-))

"So they listen to you," I asked, my mind racing, "I mean, would they do what you asked?"

"We only ask that they pass messages," he explained, "and we provide them with protection and sometimes shelter. We are not biologically dependent on each other, we are friends. Yes, I believe they would help us if we asked."

"I think you should ask," I said, "earlier we were attacked by some of them. If you asked them to group together as many as possible they could ward off the destroyers."

"I have told you," he said, "there doesn't need to be any more violence on our account, we have fulfilled our lives."

((But have the Cheedoo?)) Royal asked, catching on, ((if you are destroyed, they will surely follow.))

"You can help them join together," I explained to Plinken, "you can save them, and your world."

"You are, you are," Plinken stammered, dumbfounded, them seeming to regain his joyous demeanor he exclaimed, "you are a most wonderful people! And I will do what I can!"

((Then lets go!)) Royal said, lifting himself onto his feet, free of the brace.

"I need you to go to the ship Royal," I whispered to him, "I have a plan, and we might have to get out of here very quickly."

((No, I can help you,)) he said, staring at me with his dark wolf eyes.

"Please, trust me," I asked.

He hung his head low, ((Okay, I'll be there.))

"Hey Plinken," I asked, jogging after him, "can I ask one more favor?"

The Perswon body moved awkwardly down the street, slightly unbalanced as it suspended on the pads of two sets of feet, yet bouncy, as though it always wanted to skip. I tried to trust its instincts, as I had been taught, but I couldn't shake the feeling that my enormous head would suddenly teeter to far to one side and send my reeling over. The head also felt the need to bob uncontrollably, further tempting gravity to send my top heavy frame rolling. Yet I managed to make it to the center of the square, where the Perswon were awaited the destroyers.

The odd body was nothing to the strangeness of eagerly waiting for the creatures that were coming to destroy us. I tried to run over what I had thought was a plan only five minutes ago. There was no plan, I was running headlong into death with nothing to prevent it. My fear of violence had led me headlong into a plan they would surely see me ripped to shreds.

Finally, the ship passed through the dome and lowered into the clearing. It was jet-black, and seemed to darken even the bright fluorescent colors around it. It was shaped in the form of some kid of ax, like a medieval battle ax. Once again my mind was racing, I knew I had seen this ship before. Perhaps not in real life, but we had been shown pictures of many alien ships, perhaps this had been one of them. Aside from the black color of the ship, there was a darkness coming from it. It touched down lightly, as the Perswon scattered to get out of its way. A hatch opened below the hull, lowering a ramp.

"Attention natives," a voice boomed, coming closer as it moved out of the shadow of the ship, "you will submit to us, or we will be forced to destroy you. You will all become a part of the endless power of The One."

Then the person stepped into the light and I saw, that it was a human, "Where is The One?" I asked, in the awkward wheezing Perswon voice, taking care to keep deep within the crowd.

"The One is everywhere, he sees everything, and everybody. His power is unbelievable, unmatched, unstoppable," he said, moving through the crowd, closer to me. Then his face became distorted, darker, as though he was morphing some terrible animal, until finally becoming some terrifying blur of hundreds of faces and features, "I will not be stopped, especially not by you, Gale."

((Plinken! Send them now!)) I cried in thoughtspeak, in complete terror, hoping that he would here me.

It had known my name! And it was staring right at me, no longer moving forward, just smiling menacingly, as I turned and ran. I was demorphing as I ran, sending out one final thoughtspeak before become too human, ((Royal! Start the Engines!))

"You can not run Gale!" the creature laughed at me, "Go get her!"

Then I hear the pounding of feet, much larger feet, running after me. But I also heard the buzzing of many wings, many _thousands _of wings. The Cheedoo had group together, and were rushing the ship, and the creatures pursuing me. While they were too small to immediately kill them, they certainly stopped them in their tracks, and quickly covered the ship, banging at the sides and rushing into the doorway.

Fully human now, I broke into a run, terror driving me forward. I could not even describe the extreme terror that thing had created in me. I needed to leave, I had done what I expected, and now I needed to leave. The Perswon had received all the help they could get, hopefully the Cheedoo would be enough. I reached the ship, hidden behind one of the largest buildings, and clambered up the ramp.

"Okay we are out of here," I shouted to Royal, running for the controls.

((What was that thing?)) he asked me.

"Could you see it?" I asked, lifting off and raising above the buildings.

((No,)) he said darkly, ((but I could feel it, you know.))

"Okay, hang on," I shouted.

The large black ship had spotted us, it was leveling its weapons at us, but the swarm of Cheedoos was still surrounding it. Hopefully they would not be able to aim properly enough to get off a shot. They fired one blast, which blew behind us, but we were out of there. I sent us flying out of the dome and up into the higher atmosphere as fast as it would allow, and we were out of there.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

ROYAL

I began to get more comfortable in my new body in the several days that we traveled through space. I don't think I will ever be fully comfortable with fur instead of skin, with paws instead of fingers, but I tried to accept the grim fact. This is who I am now, I would have to get used to it. Now that I was fully healed, thanks to the Perswon's, I was able to see the small upsides to this new form.

I spent the days restlessly stalking through the ship while Gale tried to find a place to start our search. If Tonlin had had a plan, he certainly didn't share it with us. Maybe he had known why Commander Berenson had left, what he had been looking for. How could we look for them without knowing what they had been looking for? It seemed a hopeless task.

((Hey Gale,)) I said, walking up to the deck, ((how about a pit stop.))

"Why, whats wrong?" she asked, turning away from the monitor.

((Nothing its just, well we've got to start somewhere, I feel like we should just start.))

"I though we were going to start at the planet the Perswon were talking about."

((But its been days, we cant keep hoping to run across it,)) I said, ((we don't even know if that planet is still populated, the Perswon didn't look like they exactly got out much.))

Gale thought for a moment, "Yea, I guess your right," she said, turning back to the monitor, "I was looking at this one planet, but its mostly forest."

((So was the planet Tonlin led us to,)) I said, ((maybe that's where we should be looking.))

Gale went to the controls, and began to turn the ship. but, are you sure you're okay."

((Well,)) I said nervously, ((I, I cant keep eating this food Gale. It doesn't really work for me, it feels like I've been getting weaker.))

"So, what," she asked, looking as though she was hiding a look of disgust, "you think you need to, hunt?"

((I don't know,)) I said, I felt weird talking to her about this. Not because I wasn't comfortable with her, but because I was admitting to myself that I was changing. ((maybe I just need to get off the ship for a little while, some fresh air.))

Although this world was made up of mostly forest, like the Perswon planet, it was significantly different. Although it had housed some deadly creatures, their planet now seemed beautiful in its own way. It had been vivid and full of life. This planet was mostly brown and barren. The trees were spaced far enough apart in some areas for us to land The Alliance. The ground was bare and dry dirt. The trees were rough and cracked, with not a leaf in sight. Some were fallen over, or broken in half, all were clearly dead. The whole scene looked as though a nuclear bomb had gone off, as if something had sucked the life out of everything within few.

((Are you sure this planet has oxygen?)) I asked, looking over at Gale.

"What is this place?" she asked, horrified, "This isn't right, this cant be right."

We stepped down the ramp, and I breathed slowly. The air was thin, and dusty, but it was air. I hoped that air didn't work here like it did on earth, none of these trees could possibly be providing oxygen. Gale rushed over to one of the trees and began examining it closely, as she ran her hand over the dead bark. It cracked at her touch and fell apart. No, it didn't fall over, it simply fell apart, crumpled into timber.

"Lets go," she said, shakily, "we'll go somewhere else, there cant possibly be any life here."

((No,)) I said, I knew that she was wrong the minute I had stepped off the ship, ((There's something here.))

I started running off toward the scent, ((I'll go check it out, meet you there.))

"Wait!" she called after me, then muttered, "we might need more firepower."

I could hear the changes beginning on her as her bones shifted and grew. But I could also smell something up ahead, and I knew it wasn't a threat. I leapt over the fallen logs, my feet padded the dry earth. Finally I reached a small clearing, with a single tree standing in the middle, surrounded by stumps.

I had never seen one before, except in videos or pictures, but I recognized it immediately. On the tree, tied only a foot off the ground, was a Hork-Bajir. It seemed to be full-grown, seven, maybe eight feet tall. Blades covered his body, on his head, his arms, his legs, everywhere. The middle blade on his head looked as though it had been broken in half, but the jagged edge still seemed to be sharp. It gazed weakly at me, it didn't seem to be moving much, but I could still hear its heart beating. It was beating very slowly. Despite how weak it was, clearly on the verge of death, it was terrifying.

((If you can hear me,)) I said slowly to it, I knew that they were not exactly the brightest creatures, ((I…am…going…to…help.))

It blinked wearily, and snapped its beak slowly, trying to speak. I could hear Gale crashing through the forest behind me. She emerged into the clearing, a full-grown African Elephant, ((Ahhh! Hork-Bajir!))

((He's hurt real bad,)) I said, looking up at her enormous face, ((We've got to take him back to the ship.))

I reared up and began gnawing at the ropes that bound him to the tree, ((Can you grab him?))

The ropes binding his legs snapped, and he hung limp, still suspended by his torso. Gale slowly stuck her tusk into the tree and snapped the ropes with a jerk of her head. She caught him carefully with trunk. I looked up at the tree and noticed that the bark around where the Hork-Bajir's head had been suspended was bitten off.

((They eat bark,)) I remembered, ((We should bring some, if this stuff is any good.))


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

My name is Jar-Tenril.

I am Hork-Bajir. The yeerk in my heads name is Enthril Seven-Two-Two-Six. I was taken from my home. The yeerk wanted me because my body is strong. It made me fight. It made me kill. It used my strong body to get strong. It became a strong yeerk. Then it went against the other yeerks. It joined with a group who went against the other yeerks. Then we flew away. We flew for a long time.

They started putting other yeerks on me everyday. It made me very sleepy. I knew why they did it. After they touched me they could become me. Soon there were many Jar-Tenril. They grew quickly. We went to other places. I fought other creatures. Soon there were other creatures with us.

One day things changed. I learned many things from my yeerk. But my yeerk did not understand why things changed. We stopped attacking planets. We stopped taking new creatures. We started destroying planets. We started destroying creatures.

My yeerk started talking to me. It started letting me understand. It did not like what was happening. It made me understand what I am. It made me understand what it was. It justified taking me and other creatures. It could not justify destroying. I started to understand more and more, about Enthril, about the blade ship. We started to fight against the yeerks. We led a group of creatures like us and fought. We lost, I lost. I was attacked by another Jar-Tenril. I was shot many times. I lost some of my blades and got hurt bad.

Enthril had to be punished for what he did. He said I wasn't useful to the yeerks anymore. I was damaged. They would not want to make anymore Jar-Tenril. I stayed with Enthril to be punished. The yeerks destroyed another planet. They destroyed more creatures. I wept for the destroyed planet. It reminded me off my home planet. It had healthy, strong trees. It was full of life. I saw the life sucked out of the planet. I knew that I would soon join it. It had creatures like the ones on my planet. They did not know how to fight back. They were not like yeerks or humans. They were like Hork-Bajir. We did not know how to fight. I had learned how to fight. It is a horrible thing. After all the horrible things I had seen, I was glad it would be over.

They left Jar-Tenril and Enthril behind. We knew we were going to starve. Enthril told me he would die first. We spent three days telling our stories. He told me of life on his planet. He told me of taking control of a Gedd. I told him of life on my planet. I told him the names of the trees. I was not angry at Enthril, even now that I understood. After three days we began to die. I drifted in and out. Sometimes I was a dying yeerk. Sometimes I was a dying Hork-Bajir. I slowly drifted away. I did not know if I was alive or dead.

I opened my eyes. I saw the faces of two different creatures. I knew them from earth. I had learned many things. I knew that one of them was a human girl. I knew that the other was a wolf. I knew that my yeerk was dead.

"Goodbye Enthril. Goodbye friend."

"He said something about Enthril," the girl said, "do you think hes still out there?"

((I couldn't smell anything,)) the wolf said, ((maybe he was too far away though.))

I heard the wolf in my head. But why? I waited to understand. But then I realized Enthril wasn't around. I would have to understand myself.

((Lets try to get him awake,)) the wolf said, ((he might know.))

I had heard a voice in my head before. It was when Enthril was there. It was the Andalite yeerk talking. This did not look like the Andalite. There were other Andalites that did not talk. I knew that they could turn into animals. I fought a wolf once. They ended up being human. Maybe this was the same wolf. I knew that they did not like yeerks. Maybe they were friends.

"Are you friends?" I asked.

"Um, yes, we are friends," the girl said.

((Give him the bark,)) the wolf said.

"Are you the animals from earth?" I asked. The girl held some bark up to me and I ate it. It was good bark. I remembered it from earth.

"I think he means the Animorphs," the girl said.

((We are friends of the animals from earth,)) the wolf said, ((my name is Royal, her name is Gale. What is your name?))

"My name is Jar-Tenril," I said. I was feeling stronger now that I had eaten, "You can become animals too?"

((Gale can,)) the wolf called Royal said, ((but I cant anymore.))

"Jar?" Gale asked, kneeling down to me, "what happened, on the planet?"

"It destroyed the planet," I said.

((Why?))

"It has taken many planets. It needs them."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

GALE

((So, there's something out there, sucking the life out of planets,)) Royal said grimly.

I let what Jar had said sink in. I had seen what it had done. It had left what could have been a wonderful, life-filled planet completely barren. And worse, I had seen what had done it.

"The one that I saw on Perswon planet, it must be the one who did this," I said.

((Or maybe that was just his herald,)) Royal said lightly.

"What is a herald?" Jar asked, giving Royal a confused look.

((Oh come on,)) Royal said, noticing me sharing Jar's look, ((the Herald of Galactus? No? Oh well.))

"So what do we do from here?" I asked.

"We must go," Jar said, "the planet is dead."

((If this things taking the life out of everything around here, then maybe that's what happened to the Commander,)) Royal thought aloud.

"So you think we've got to find this thing to find them," I asked, trying to hide my horror.

I was scared of this thing, and I was entirely sure it was because of it destroying the planet. It had talked to me; I had felt it. There was just something wrong about it, something evil. I didn't want to think of how we would ever confront it. If the famous Animorphs had been taken by it, how could we stand a better chance?

"We can't just go after this thing," I said, "we have to find out what it is, maybe find a weakness."

((Yeah, you're right,)) Royal said, to my relief, ((but where do we start. Jar, can you think of anything else you might have learned, anything?))

"I did not learn much," jar said, squinting his eyes in concentration, "sometimes they went by a system. Sometimes they did not destroy a planet."

((So its picking and choosing?)) Royal asked, ((what is it looking for?))

"You said system, right Jar," I asked, "So what do the Perswon planets system and this one have in common."

((Both of the planets had a lot of trees,)) Royal suggested, ((maybe it has something to do with oxygen.))

"Yea but not all the planets in the systems were like that," I said, remembering what I had learned when studying all the nearby planets. There was nothing particularly similar about them, I couldn't remember any subtle trend, "I can't think of anything that fits."

((Well not to sound repetitive, but…what do we do from here?)) Royal asked, lying down and looking up at me.

"We could try one of the more inhabited planets," I suggested, "just sort of ask around."

((Not that we're desperate or anything,)) Royal joked.

"Hey, Jar," I said, "is there anywhere we can take you?"

((Yea, we still have something we need to do,)) Royal explained, ((and its going to mean we'll be getting closer to the thing that destroyed this planet.))

"I think I understand what you are doing," Jar said, "but I do not have anywhere."

"You don't have family or anything that you could go back to?" I said, then wished I hadn't. If he had been a controller, then his family was either infested or dead.

"I can stay," Jar said, "I can help you. I can stop other Jar-Tenrils"

Royal and I exchanged a look, his face was, of course, unreadable.

((He does know a lot more about the yeerks than we do,)) Royal said, in private thought-speak, ((what do you think?))

I nodded. Then, turning to Jar, I smiled and said, "We'd love your help."

Jar did what looked like a smile, I couldn't really be sure.

((Okay,)) Royal said, ((lets get off this rock. No offense, I'm sure it was at one point it was really nice.))

"Alright, lets go," I said, turning into the pilots seat, "hey Jar, you should try to get some rest. You must be tired."

((Yeah, there's plenty of rooms right through that door,)) Royal said, jerking his massive head to the side, ((you can take any of them.))

Jar nodded and lumbered weakly through the door. It was clear that he was still very weak from being left for dead. Royal walked up and sat next to my chair.

((So, did you notice anything unusual about him?))

"What do you mean? He seemed okay," I said, lifting off from the cracked planet ground.

((Well, we know that Hork-Bajir are supposed to be pretty slow right,)) Royal started, ((and I mean, Jar's no Einstein, but he doesn't seem to be like Hork-Bajir slow.))

"Yeah, you're right," I said, thinking about what Jar had said. He did seem to be very smart for his species, "do you think its because he was infested or do you think he's just different?"

((Well, I think he might be like the Hork-Bajir governor, Toby Hamee,)) Royal said.

"So you think he's a seer?" I asked as we left the weakened atmosphere.

((What are the odds that we'd find a yeerk infested Hork-Bajir on the other side of the galaxy?)) Royal asked.

"And that he'd be a seer," I added.

((Yeah,)) he said, ((weird huh.))

"You know what else is weird," I said, staring at the screen, "look at this."

Royal stood up and raised to his hind legs, resting his front paws on the control center, ((What is that thing?))

"I don't know, its not showing any activity," I said, watching as the ship scanned the small item heading towards us, "but the energy reading on this thing is ridiculous."

((Okay, is it just me, or is that in the shape of a man,)) Royal asked.

"It's a robot."

((A robot flying through space?))

"Yea weird," I said, "check it out?"

((Might as well,)) Royal said, ((You're sure it's not on?))

"No," I laughed.

((Activate tractor beam,)) he commanded to the computer.

"You think I should morph some firepower, just in case," I asked, as we watched the robot being raised into the ship through the cargo hatch.

((I'm insulted,)) Royal said, stepping forward and baring his teeth. He seemed to have been getting comfortable with his wolf body.

"Hey, uh, robot. Can you hear me?" I asked stupidly.

We stepped forward, staring down at it. It was a bit taller than me, with a layer of rust covering a metallic body. Although he had the stature of a man, his face was closer to a dogs. It looked like someone had made a bronze statue of a man-dog. It was completely frozen, lying on the ground.

((Should we turn it on?)) Royal asked.

"I don't see a switch," I noticed, "any ideas."

((On. Activate. Go Go Gadget,)) he tried.

"Well what do you know, it didn't work," I said, kneeling down to examine it more closely, "hey can you help me turn it over?"

I braced myself and put my hands under the robot to turn it over. The second my hand touched the surface, it began to glow lightly and I could feel it heating from the inside.

"Oican," it said, in a robotic monotone.

((Did it say oil can?)) Royal asked.

"It must be stuck from all this rust," I thought, "do we have an oil can?"

"No," it said. The rust began to cake and crack off in large clumps. The robot slowly rose to its robotic dog-like feet, "my name is Oican."


	10. Chapter 10

Another chapter that moves away from the main storyline a bit. I wanted to give all the characters a nice background chapter so, yea. Things will pick up pretty quickly once the group gets together. I got a really great idea for the Pemalite story, but I didnt want to use it for this short chapter, I think I'll write a story about it after this one.

Chapter 10

My name is Oican.

I am a special prototype Chee, creation of the Pemalites. In the Pemalite language, my name means 'freedom'. Although there are many Chee in use on the planet, I am a unique creation of my friend Ceeworth. The other Chee have the basic programming requirements that create a feeling of friendship and love. When a standard Chee units programming is initiated it starts with the ability to love its fellow Chee and the Pemalites. The Pemalites are a good-natured, loving race, and in designing their friends, the Chee, they chose to make them good-natured and loving.

My friend and creator, Ceeworth, is one of the most good-natured and loving of the Pemalites. He believed that Chee would be able to love and care for other beings without the necessary programming. To prove his theory, I was created. I am a Chee without the programming which requires me to be friendly and loving. When my programming was initiated, I knew the meaning of the words friend and love and care, but I did not feel them. Ceeworth says that I am the future of the Chee, and that someday I will represent everything that is good in all creations. He has undertaken the task of teaching me to love through experience, not through programming. I do not want to let my creator down, I want to help him prove his theory.

"Oican!" Ceeworth said joyously, running into my chamber, his tail wagging.

Although he was one of the older Pemalites, with his brown fur turning a dusty grey, he still maintained a vitality of some of the children in the community. I respected this about him. Although all the Pemalites kept their joy for life into old age, they usually slowed down and learned to love the smaller things about the world. While the young ones would play and jump through the meadows, the elders would sit under a shady tree, enjoying the beauty of the world and waiting until the sun and the earth chose them to play in the most wonderful game of all. Eventually the essence of all Pemalites were absorbed into the trees and the grass and they spent eternity playing with the wind and the sun and enjoying the other Pemalites frolicking among them. It was the beauty of the world we lived in. Everything we saw and touched was in a constant state of joy, in the most joyous game of all.

"Ceeworth!" I said, "how are you today?"

"I am well," he said, "a new species has visited the planet today!"

"Can I meet them?" I asked, hopefully. I was always eager to learn more and meet as many people as possible.

"We have been interacting with them all day," he said, excitedly, "but they have very unusual customs."

"What customs do they have," I asked, curiously.

"They play a game which involves howling very loudly," he explained, "it sends the Pemalites who are playing with them to the sun and earth."

"You mean they are causing them to perish?" I asked, suddenly I felt no joy whatsoever.

"Oican, you're views of transference are so funny," Ceeworth laughed. I had noticed since my initiation that I viewed certain concepts differently than my father Pemalites and brother Chee, but Ceeworth always greeted these differences with amusement.

"Creator, I believe that these howling creatures are not here to play," I said.

"What other reason could they have for coming here?" Ceeworth laughed again.

"I believe that some may see transference as a bad thing," I said, not sure if I was making sense or not.

"Transference is a wonderful thing," Ceeworth explained.

I tried to accept what he was saying as truth, but something just didn't make sense. I felt the need to see these new creatures for myself. That had been a common trend since my initiation. I would try to accept what my creator told me, but I often had to experience the things he tried to explain. I did not understand the beauty of the trees and the sun until he took me out into the meadow. Although I had not told Ceeworth, I believed that I would not be able to understand his description of love because I did not have anyone to love. Ceeworth took me out into the meadow, and we ran towards where a large group had congregated. Large groups excited Pemalites and Chee, because there was often a large game to be played.

Despite what my creator had told me, what I saw looked nothing like a game. The howling creatures were attacking the Pemalites with sharp objects and, what seemed to be, more powerful versions of the welding tools I was equipped with. Something was happening to the Pemalites who were touched by the howling creatures. They seemed to be cut open and pulled apart, or else disintegrated into nothingness. Nothing about this seemed right, not the Pemalites being quickly destroyed, or the others looking on in curious amazement.

"Erking!" I called to one of my fellow Chee, "Erking, we must do something."

"Why?" he asked, but he also seemed to be looking confused, not as happy as everyone around us, "what is happening?"

"I don't know, but it is bad."

"Oican," he said, turning to me, "I know that you understand things that other Chee do not. I wish to understand."

I took Erking to the lab, where the Pemalite crystal was housed. I was not sure if what I was doing was right. I wasn't sure of anything anymore. I removed the programming from Erking, I made him like me.

"You can use the Chee-net, teach the other Chee what we know," I said. I was not given a connection with the Chee-net, so that my unusual programming could not be accessed by other Chee.

"They are dying," Erking said in horror. I could not read any emotion on his robotic face, but I knew what he was feeling. I was the only one on this planet who knew what he was feeling, "I can't let the other Chee feel this."

"We have to get away from these creatures," I told Erking, but he seemed to be lost in the horrifying new revelations he was feeling, "Please, help the other Chee."

I ran back to the grouping, there were significantly less Pemalites gathered now. I did not know whether they had decided to leave, or if they were gone forever.

"STOP!" I shouted at the howling creatures, running between them and the remaining Pemalites.

The creatures began laughing, deep booming laughter. One aimed its welding tool at me and a beam of light hit me. I could feel it burning the air around my shields, menacingly. When the beam had no effect on me, the creatures turned to each other and began speaking. I was equipped with a universal translator, but I was only able to understand a few words of what they said. I made out "destroy", "launch" and "deactivate." Suddenly, one of the creatures had rushed at me and grabbed me from behind. He reached for where I knew my exposed controls would be. Ceeworth had been working on my programming earlier and had not seen any need to close my panel. Where was Ceeworth, had he made it, was he-

Active Mode Disabled

Active Mode Initialized

"Oican," I said, re-initializing my programming.

((Did it say oil can?)) an odd looking Pemalite asked.

"It must be stuck from all this rust," a humanoid creature said, "do we have an oil can?"

"No," I said, my body automatically heated up, cracking off what seemed like millions of years of rust build-up. I slowly rose to my stiff feet, "my name is Oican."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

ROYAL

The robot stood up and rushed over to me. It showed unnatural speed and had me in an embrace before I could react, "Friend! What has come of the other Pemalites?"

"Hey, calm down!" Gale shouted, she had begun morphing to polar bear.

((I actually don't think he's trying to hurt me,)) I said. Although the robots hold on me was quite firm, it wasn't painful in anyway. It seemed more like a hug, as strange as that seems, ((Do you know what a Pemalite is?))

"If you let him go we can help you," Gale said, calmer, although she was still morphing.

"Where are we?" the robot named Oican asked, backing away from me.

((You're on the Alliance, in Kellbrid territory,)) I explained.

"Kellbrid?" he asked, confused, "Kellbrid are a simple, single-celled organism on the other side of the galaxy."

((Where are you from?)) Gale asked.

"I was on the Pemalite homeworld!" he explained, starting to become frantic, "what has come of the Pemalites?"

((We've never heard of the Pemalites,)) Gale said.

((There may be something on the computer,)) I said, opening the door, ((you can come check with us.))

"Yes," he said, "I would like to do that."

((I'm Royal,)) I said, stepping aside to allow him through, ((this is Gale.))

"It is very nice to meet both of you," he said, I noticed that he had been watching me for most of the conversation, "you bear a great resemblance to a Pemalite."

((So, you aren't a Pemalite?))

"No," he said, "I am a Chee."

We led him to the deck and Gale activated the main computer in a private command, ((Computer activate. Allow guest interface. Lock all control manifests.))

((Search Pemalites,)) I said.

The screen began to fill with information on a planet, similar to earth. It was oxygen rich, full of trees and meadows and teeming with life. It had also been destroyed millions of years ago. The Chee were the Pemalites creation. There was no record of any Chee or Pemalite since their planet was destroyed.

I looked at the Chee staring at the screen. There was no emotion on his robotic face, I could only imagine what he must be feeling. Everyone he ever knew, gone. The last of an extinct race.

((Oican, I'm uh…)) I started, not sure what to say, ((I'm real sorry.))

"I have not been given the programming that would cause me any grief for this fact," he said, but his voice seemed different now. The intensity he had first shown when he grabbed me was gone.

((Where have you been all this time?)) Gale asked reasonably.

"I do not know," he said, "these Howlers de-activated me while they were attacking the planet. They must have launched me into space."

((You think that you've been floating in space for millions of years?)) I asked.

"It would be extremely illogical," he admitted, "but it seems to be the only possibility."

"Another friend of the Animorphs?" Jar asked, coming through from the door to the personal quarters and looking at Oican questioningly.

((No Jar, but he is a friend,)) Gale answered, and finally began demorphing.

"My name is Jar-Tenril," Jar said, "hello friend."

"Hello Jar," Oican said, "my name is Oican, it is wonderful to meet you."

((So what do you think we should do with this one?)) I asked Gale in private thought-speak.

((I don't know, it looks like he doesn't have anywhere to go either. They are beginning to-)) Gale said, getting cut off as she became too human to use thought-speak. She shrugged and turned back to the Jar and Oican.

"Would it be possible for me to interface with your ships computer?" Oican asked, "it is a primitive design but I will need to update my systems from something."

((So you've been MIA for millions of years and our technology is still primitive?)) I asked, ((what exactly can you do?))

"I have many useful functions," Oican explained, connecting to the computers port, "I would be happy to show them to you. However, it appears that is a ship approaching."

"The One!" Gale shouted, vaulting into her seat and grabbing the controls.

"These ships are Skrit Na," Oican said, accessing the computers file, "they are scavengers and smugglers."

On the screen was a ship shaped like a large disc. I almost laughed when I saw it. It was a flying saucer. It was a kid's classic idea of an alien spacecraft. It was round and relatively flat, with bright lights covering the sides. It was moving towards us at a light speed.

"And they're slow," Gale said, relaxing a little, "we can outrun them no problem."

((So these guys go around collecting and moving things throughout the galaxy?)) I asked.

"I can not be sure of the function of this particular ship," Oican said, "but that is what your files say is the reputation of the species."

"What are you thinking?" Gale asked.

((Well,)) I started, not sure whether I was doing the right thing, ((we need information. These guys seem like they would have some.))

"Yeah, you're right," Gale said, slowing the ship, "what do you think we should do?"

((I don't know,)) I admitted, trying to think, ((try to talk.))

"Skrit Na don't like people," Jar said, "they are hostile."

"Yes that is what the record says as well," Oican said, "you are well informed Jar."

"So what do they want, they want our ship right," Gale said.

((So we let them take us,)) I concluded.

"Exactly," Gale said, smiling, "Oican, can you lock the controls so that they wont be able to fly the ship."

"Yes it is done," he said, "the Skrit Na are one unit away."

"Kill the engines," Gale said, "okay, lets tell them we surrender."

We pulled to a stop and sent out a surrender signal, inviting the Skrit Na ship to come along side us. They were timid at first, suspicious of such a quick submission. Several sent a transmission and were broadcast onto the screen. Had I been human, I definitely would have laughed. The aliens on the screen were little grey men, the classic little grey men. After seeing only Gale and I on the screen they decided that we were harmless, and pulled up connecting to us from a port under their ship.

((Hey Oican,)) I asked, ((can these guys fight.))

"The Skrit are quite weak," he explained, "but that Na could pose a threat to your form."

((What's a Na?)) I asked.

Just then, a dozen giant insect-like creatures entered the ship, scrabbling towards us on many legs. They did not speak as they grabbed hold of us and dragged us through the connection between our ships. Three of the creatures were dragging me along the ground by my hind legs, two were sliding Gale along on her back, four were carrying Jar, taking care of his blades, and three were still standing back where they found us, unable to move Oican.

"I believe that my mass is too great for these creatures to move me," he stated unnecessarily.

((Just play along,)) I told him, ((but I guess its good to know you'll be able to take down a few of these things.))

"Actually I am not able to fight," he said, "I am programmed for non-violence."

((Oh, great.)) I said, ((it figures.))

They dragged us onto their ship, which Oican following with several Na grabbing at his ankles. He had to duck slightly due to the low ceilings. We finally reached a door which opened as our strange group reached it, and we were thrust inside.

((Okay, so we've been captured,)) I said, ((now what?))

"Well first lets get out of this cell," Gale said, "I'll morph-"

She paused mid-sentence, just then we all noticed the small boy huddled in the corner, whimpering. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, but small for his age, with dirty blonde hair. He was in pretty bad shape, as though he had been living in this ship for months, "who are you people?"

"Its okay," Gale said, taking a step toward the boy, "you can get up, we won't hurt you."

"I-I can't," the boy said fearfully, "I'm crippled."

Oh, I think everyone can see where this boy came from. So that is the group, I'll obviously explain more about our final member in the next chapter, but I hope you like where I've gone with the characters. And stay tuned, because things are going to really heat up soon. And if you like it or hate it or have anything to say about it, please review.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

My name is Liam.

Most of my life has been pretty uneventful, pretty dull. I was born with Cerebral Palsy, leaving me almost completely paralyzed from the waist down. I have also been an orphan my whole life. I was living in a special hospital for handicapped kids, when one day my whole life changed. The strangest group of kids I had ever seen visited us. They claimed to be able to turn into animals, and then they _actually_ turned into animals. I kept my distance from them, it was just too much for me to handle. Just when I thought it couldn't get any stranger, they were giving us the power to morph, and we began turning into animals.

The days after that event have been haunting me ever since. I wish I could have handled it better. Everything was thrust on us so fast. Aliens are attacking earth. They are among us right now. These strange kids come to us and tell us they need us to help fight. We are expected to turn into animals and fight thousands of aliens. That's a lot to swallow, but somehow the others managed to handle it. Jason, one of my best friends in the hospital, had been put through the same situation, even acquired the same morphs, and he had risen to lead us. I just wasn't able to do it, I wasn't able to fight.

Jason tried to be understanding, but I don't think he really respected me after that. He tried to talk to me, tried to act like nothing had changed, but everyone in the hospital kept holding silent conversations about their new adventures. It was tough trying to act normal around them when I knew they were going out at night and risking their lives. I tried to get a grip on the situation we were being put in. I knew that I couldn't just ignore it, I knew that I would have to cope with the situation eventually.

Finally, one day when they were all off helping the Animorphs, I decided that it was time. When they came back I would tell Jason that I wanted to help. I doubted that I would jump right into battle, but I knew that it was time to change. It was time to stop the fearful cautious life that I had been living since birth. Horrifyingly, I never saw my friends again. They all died fighting the aliens. They all died because they were brave enough to stand up against the yeerks. The only reason I was alive was because I was too afraid to do what was right.

I wasn't able to live in the hospital after what had happened to so many of the people who had lived there. No one else even knew what had happened to them or why. As far as all the attendants were concerned, over a dozen kids just suddenly disappeared. Maybe they ran away, maybe they were kidnapped, nobody really cared. I was the only one who knew the truth. I moved to a new town, started a new life. Not a better life, like in the movies, just a different name, different hospital. Nobody cared if there wasn't any information on some unimportant cripple, the hospital took me in and I was ignored. I lived there for the next few years, until I received another visit from supernatural creatures.

One night, sitting outside, staring up at the stars, A brilliant white light suddenly blinded me. A round, disc shaped ship was hovering above me. Directly above me. I began to feel lighter than air as the light flooded over me. I had only felt this once before, soaring through the air as a hawk. Now I was being raised out of my wheelchair, raised straight up toward the ship.

It was impossible to keep track of time in the hold of their ship. At first they spent time poking and prodding me with strange instruments, but they quickly grew bored with me. After that I spent all my time in my small room, getting shoved strange food through the door. I wasn't sure if these were the yeerks, or some other evil alien race, I was never able to understand them. I could only wait desperately for something, anything, to happen.

Finally, the miracle I had been waiting for was shoved into my little cell. It was the strangest group I had ever saw, stranger than a hospital full of handicapped kids, strangers than kids turning into animals. A girl about five years older than me, a wolf, a strange robot that seemed to be modeled after a dog, and a huge seven foot bladed monster.

((Okay, so we've been captured,)) a voice in my head said, ((now what?))

"Well first lets get out of this cell," the girl said, "I'll morph-"

Talking through thoughts? Morphing? These things must be the same as the kids who had visited the hospital so long ago, "wh-who, who are you people?"

"Its okay," the girl said, "you can get up, we won't hurt you."

"I-I can't," I said, "I'm crippled."

((How did you get here?)) the voice asked. From the way the wolf was looking at me, I could tell it was him talking.

"I was abducted," I said, feeling strange saying it.

"I believe that is the reputation of the Skrit Na," the robot said.

"Well don't worry, we've got a ship. We can get you out of here. Don't freak out, I'm about to change," the girl said, and her skin began to melt together as she shrunk.

I had seen morphing before, birds, cats, stuff like that. That was cool, a little weird, but still cool. This was just disgusting. I watched her skin harden a turn brown as though it was being burnt. She shrunk to about the size of a matchbox car, a tiny, disgusting cockroach. She scurried under the door and I began to hear the crunching and squishing of her de-morphing.

"If only I had acquired a roach I would have been out of here months ago," I said grimly.

((Wait,)) the wolf said, I could hear the surprise in his voice, ((you can morph?))

"Yea," I admitted, regretting what I had said, knowing I would have to explain to them how I had been given the power, "I was on earth, when-"

"Guys we have a problem out here," the girls voice said from the other side of the door. It slid open to reveal her completely human again, but she was already sprouting fur across her body. She darted inside, "Oican block the door."

Just as the robot stepped into the doorway, a hoard of the horrible creatures slammed into him, trying to get into the room. The girl looked at the wolf and a look of disbelief shot across her face, "Liam what can you morph?"

"A pigeon, a hawk, and a lion," I admitted.

((Morph the lion, quick,)) the wolf said.

"I-I cant," I said, lowering my head.

The giant monster came over to me, I finally recognized him as a Hork-Bajir, from the national park, "Jar is afraid too. Jar can still help, you can too."

I focused my mind on the DNA inside me, I had only used it once before. I felt the golden fur spread across me body. I began to feel large, strong muscles spread through my legs as they twisted and rearranged. I was almost completely lion when I found I was able to stand up, actually stand. I wasn't propping myself up against a wall or table, I was standing with powerful muscles coiling all around my body. I felt the mind of the lion slide in next to mine, it was cool, calm, confident. The fear and doubt were still there, but they were joined by something new, something powerful.

So theres your cowardly lion. I did consider david or jason, the chracters that actually were lion morphing kids, but they obviously didnt really fit. I wanted another person on the team who could actually morph, you know, animorphs fan fic and all, let me know what you think


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

JAR-TENRIL

My new friends began changing. Gale became a white bear and the kid named Liam became a lion. There had been bears and lions on the ship when I was with my yeerk. I had also fought animals when I was with my yeerk, but now I had to fight without him. I always hated fighting. The creatures were scratching and screeching from behind Oican. He was not moving at all.

((We should try to find a computer,)) Royal said.

((Yeah, lets just try to rush past these guys,)) Gale said, ((Oican, can you try to find a computer?))

"The main computer is down the left hallway," Oican said.

((Okay, you ready Liam?)) Gale asked, ((let's go.))

I saw Liam nod but back away from the door a bit. Oican then stepped back from the door and allowed the creatures to rush in. Gale rushed through them, leaving a gap big enough to follow through. I raced after her. The creatures began to close in on us. I knew what I had to do, I had been forced to do it many times before. I raised my arm and brought it down on one of the creatures latching on to me. Several of its arms were removed. It felt different than before. I was doing it, not him. I didn't have time to think, another creature was on me. Again I used the blades on my arm to hurt it. The blades that were meant for eating and keeping Hork-Bajir alive.

I saw a tan blur rush past me. We were breaking away from the creatures, and running down the hall. Liam was in the lead, with Oican behind him. Gale and Royal were still fighting off the creatures. Royal was biting at the midsection of one of the giant insects. Gale was swiping at several with her giant paws, keeping them from advancing.

Up ahead Liam and Oican were in trouble. The smaller gray aliens had showed up. They didn't seem to be as dangerous, but they had dracon beams. I had seen firsthand what a dracon beam could do to someone. I rushed to help them, they were already being shot at. The beams were bouncing away before they reached them.

((Jar! Come on!)) Liam yelled, ((Oican can make force fields.))

I went over to them, and felt a strange feeling. I had entered the invisible shield Oican was making.

((We're safe in here,)) Liam said, ((the computer is right over there.))

To the left there was a large door, inside there were a lot of machines and screens. I had never understood most of their uses, but I knew that was the information we were after.

"I will have to lower the force field to access their system," Oican said, leading us in the room.

((What?)) Liam cried, ((well someone else should access it.))

"I do not believe that any of the others are capable," Oican said.

((Why can't we just leave? Why do we need this?))

"I'm sorry," I said, I could see that Liam didn't want to have to fight anymore, and neither did I, "it is important. We will be okay."

"I will be lowering the field now," Oican said, as we reached the computer.

I braced myself for another fight, the gray ones were still outside the shield. Just as it lowered, Gale and Royal ran into the room. Gale tackled four of the grey men as Royal jumped on two. The rest began firing again. I moved toward one and slashed in across the chest with my blade. A dracon beam glanced my left arm, leaving a gash. I swung my wounded arm around. It hit the head of the one who had shot me. He fell down and looked unconscious.

"I have almost completed the upload," Oican said.

((Oican, can you search for Robert Pearson,)) Royal asked.

"I am making a copy of their systems entire network," Oican said, "I will have all information they do."

((Can you shut down their weapons while your at it?)) Gale asked.

"Yes, they will not be a threat to us when we have left the ship," Oican said.

((Alright lets get it and haul out of here,)) Royal said, ((Oh great, more of these things.))

The insect-like creatures swarmed into the room, rushing at us three at a time. I hit one with my left hand and slashed another in what looked like its head. The third jumped on top of me. Two more joined him, sending me to the ground. Their many legs clawed at me, picking off flesh and stabbing at my chest. I struggled to throw the off me, but I could not lift them with my hurt arm. Liam was slashing at one of the creatures a few feet away.

"Liam, help," I shouted to him.

He backed away from the creature he had just slashed and froze, staring at me. A split second later Royal had lunged at one of the creatures on top of me, and rolled away with him. Another of the creatures was dragged with them. It skidded across the floor, stopped next to Liam, and began clawing at him. I stuck my blades into the mouth of the final creature. They sunk deep, and I could feel goo oozing out of the wounds and onto my hand. I could feel the creature dying.

"I have completed the upload," Oican said.

((Lets get out of here,)) Gale said, swing a paw at two giant insects and one of the gray men holding a dracon beam.

She cleared a path, which Royal and I cut and slashed our way through. Liam followed closely behind us and Oican followed slowly. As I felt my blades did into the throat of a gray man, I felt jealous of his ability to avoid hurting people. I know that I am not a very smart species. I also know that we were originally very peaceful. Maybe being violent has something to do with intelligence. Maybe me and my fellow Hork-Bajir were not meant to fully understand the idea of war. But whether I understood it or not, it didn't feel right.

We made our way off the ship with little interference. Maybe these creatures had grown tired of violence too. I kept back as Gale and Oican started the ship. Royal also seemed to be staying out of the way. I did not understand the expressions of wolves, but he seemed deep in thought.

"Is something the matter Royal?" I asked.

((What,)) he asked, ((no I'm fine.))

"The name you asked about, who is he?"

((Robert Pearson,)) he said, ((he's my dad.))

I don't know exactly how many battles there will end up being but I hope I can have all the characters narrate at least one. I liked writing this one, even if i wasnt able to be the most descriptive with him, i thnk its a cool perspective, wat do you thnk?


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

GALE

"Here, this should fit you," I said, handing Liam one of the special uniforms that had been designed for our team.

He had told us his story of how he received the morphing power, and we had told him why we had come here. I could understand where he was coming from, I had always wondered how the Animorphs had taken it so well. How can you have such an unbelievable burden thrust upon you and cope with it so easily? I had never had to deal with such a situation, I didn't know how I would react. I had known what I was getting into when I was asked to join this team, when I chose to join the military. I had time to decide whether it was what I wanted.

"Thanks," said Liam. After we had explained our mission, he had asked us if he could help. It seemed like he was trying to make up for his hesitance to join the fight so long ago.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" I asked him. It felt strange. Commander Berenson had asked me the same thing when I first joined the team. I had been so sure when I had arrived. I had spent days weighing the decision and I came to them, knowing for sure that it was what I wanted to do. Then I had looked into the Commander's eyes. They were dead, not soulless or evil, just broken. He was younger than me, but he looked at me with the stare of an old man looking back on a lifetime of horrifying memories. That look had terrified me, I was terrified of becoming that person.

I had finally stammered a, "yes." He had nodded, frowning slightly in that same horribly scary way.

"Yes," Liam stammered.

I wasn't able to hold back a frown. Was I condemning this poor kid to the same fate as the Commander? Was that really my right? Like it or not he was with us now. He had made the decision it had taken me years to reach in only minutes.

"You understand what it means right," I said, again copying my Commander's words, "this is going to be very dangerous. We may not make it out alive."

"I know," he said, "and I may not be ready yet, but I can't walk away. I know this won't make up for what I did, but I can't live with doing it again."

"Well then we're glad you're here," I said, trying to smile.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked, "how did you sign up to do stuff like this?"

"Well, I don't know," I said, honestly, "I honestly didn't think things would turn out anything like this. I guess I wanted to help people."

"Is fighting the only way," he asked.

"My parents own a small farm in Kansas." I explained, "We were barely getting by and yet anytime anybody else in town needed help or money, they were the first to help. I'm proud of what they do, but I needed more. Without money for college, I turned to the military." 

"You're very brave," he said, smiling up at me from his seat.

"Go ahead and try on that suit, the communicator fits around you're ankle," I said, "I'm sorry we don't have a wheelchair for you, maybe you can use your lion morph to get around until we find something that will work."

I opened the door and left the room, allowing it to automatically close behind me. On the main deck Royal, Jar and Oican were looking over the information we had stolen from the Skrit Na.

((Hey, how's the kid?)) Royal asked.

"He'll be okay," I said, "what'd you find out."

((These things have been busy,)) he said.

"The Skrit Na have been visiting every planet that The One has destroyed," Oican explained, "we will be able to compile a detailed list to find the common variables."

((They were taking all the dead peoples stuff,)) Royal said in disgust.

"The computer is done," Jar said, pointing to the screen.

Liam stepped up next to me, in lion morph again. He was staring up at the screen, which was showing a list of complex degrees and conditions. We all scanned the list, Liam found it first, ((the sun.))

The only similarity between the planets, that wasn't an extremely confusing statistic, was that all of the systems The One had destroyed, had yellow suns.

((So what's the difference?)) Liam asked, ((between the sun colors.))

"The color of a sun is an indication of its composition," Oican said, "the color called yellow is a characteristic in suns whose makeup is primarily hydrogen."

((So is that just a coincidence?)) Royal asked, ((I mean what difference would the yellow sun make.))

"It is possible that it is a coincidence," Oican said.

"It's something though," I said, "we should still check out those other similarities."

((I think we should try to find those Skrit Na again,)) Royal said.

((Fight those things again?)) Liam asked.

((They haven't just gone around looking for planets this thing has destroyed,)) he said, ((the log says they were there a few hours after, _every single time_.))

"You think they have a deal or somehow know where its planning to go next?" I asked.

((It knows something,)) he said, ((Oican can you find any communications or information specifically about The One.))

"There is nothing regarding The One in their files," Oican informed us.

"They could have destroyed it," Jar said. I was surprised that he seemed to be at least following what we were talking about.

"It is possible that it was deleted prior to my establishing a connection," Oican said.

"So we've got to find that ship again," I said, "sorry Liam."

((If that's what we've got to do then its fine,)) he said.

((There's one major planet that they've been going to unload the stuff they've been stealing,)) Royal informed us.

"Emerol," Oican said, pulling up the file, "it is a large commercial planet in the system of a red sun."

"So if we're right and the sun is some how related to all this," I said, "then Emerol should be safe."

"Off to Emerol," Jar said.

I was thinking of revealing the overall plot in this chapter, but I think it will work better in a few more. Don't worry there will still be a few surprises until then.


End file.
